Roger Ebert Picks His Top Ten Films of the Year

Back in July, Roger Ebert came back with full force, and since then, it's been a pretty news-intensive year for the reviewer -- all of the Siskel and Ebert reviews popping up online, those trademarked thumbs, and the title of "Most Powerful Pundit." Now it's the end of the year, and time for Ebert to weigh in with the rest of us on his picks for the best films of 2007. And he's definitely right with his introduction -- this has been a fall season of movies to remember -- not the usual lag before the final holiday push. But onto the winners... Would the top spot go to a little Javier Bardem? Sarah Polley? Or, maybe the story about the dude who gave up his life and became the ultimate loner in the Alaskan wilderness?

All of these films are present, but none of those for the top spot. That honor went to Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman's Juno. As Ebert says: "I tried out other titles in the No. 1 position, but my heart told me I had to be honest. This was my true love, and I could not be unfaithful." Of course, just as I finally put the raves out of my head and brought my Juno anticipation down to a manageable level for when I see it on Saturday, Ebert makes my anticipation skyrocket. Argh! From there, well, you can imagine a lot of the films on the list, and one musical surprise.

However, since he's got more than 10 loved films this year, he also shared a 10-way tie for 11th place. There's some great films like Starting Out in the Evening in the mix, and another musical that surprised me -- John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes. But that's just the beauty of a personal top 10, or 20 -- the strange gems that grab you, even if no one else gives them play.